LET’S STOP BEACH FRONT EROSION

LET’S STOP BEACH FRONT EROSION I find it ironic that while the whole country is focused on the loss of some of our territory to Communist China, very few people seem to care about losing much of our beach front territory to soil erosion on one hand, and to rising sea levels on the other hand. Yes, it is happening, and it is happening very fast, right under our noses. The good news is, there are dedicated scientists like Dr. Fernando Siringan and Dr. Jurgenne Honculada-Primavera who are keeping watch over this problem, and they have been warning everybody about how serious the problem is, and that we must do something about it. But the bad news is, very few people seem to listen, even those people from the government agencies that are tasked to do it. In theory, the DENR is supposed to have jurisdiction over the terrestrial portion of the beach front, while the BFAR has jurisdiction over the marine portion. Unfortunately, the lines between these two jurisdictions seem to be unclear, and that is why there appears to be a lot of finger-pointing between these two agencies. Meanwhile, there are many LGUs that are either unaware of their roles in preventing soil erosion or are simply turning their attention away from the violators, such as the illegal miners of black sand. The two scientists recommend the planting of mangroves and other vegetation such as beach forests. IKE SENERES/05-30-2024